November 19, 2007
Head basketball coach Mark Turgeon met with the press on Monday at his weekly media luncheon in College Station.
The Aggies head to New York this week to compete in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.
Audio is available to the right. Quotes are posted below.
Mark Turgeon Press Conference Quotes
ON BEING THE FAVORITE TO WIN THE PRESEASON NIT: "Anybody who knows anything about basketball knows that this early in the season those numbers don't mean much. It gives us a chance to see where we are on a national stage. I think Washington is a little underrated. They should be ranked higher. I haven't seen a lot on Ohio State. Syracuse has added some nice young players and they're playing close to home. We aren't looking at it like we're the favorite because we're ranked the highest. We have so far to go as a team that we're still just trying to focus on making ourselves better. Hopefully, we'll play well in New York."
"We should be fresh. We took a day off before the Ouachita Baptist game. Then we took Sunday off to get us physically and mentally fresh going into this week. After all that we should be fresh going to New York."
"This whole season we're going to get unbelievable exposure, because of what we've done in the past. It's more about what we've done in the past. I know how TV works. This is a big week for us, because we need to get better. I don't know if we got any better last week. I thought we took Saturday night off, to be quite honest with you. This week, considering our competition level and the stage, I think our concentration level is going to be high. As a coach, I'm excited because I think we can get a lot better over the next five days. Hopefully, we can be successful on top of it."
"As a coach, you're never happy, never satisfied. It's never good enough. I'm anxious to see where we are. I've been saying all along we're overrated. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope the guys prove me wrong. We'll see how we handle this stage and this competition. Washington is a young team like ourselves. Ohio State is very young and Syracuse is very young. So, there are four really young teams that can only get better and better as the season goes on. This could be a big spring board for one of the teams."
ON WASHINGTON'S FRONT COURT: "So far this year, they'll be the best we've seen. (Jon) Brockman is pretty special. They have speed and that makes it difficult on us. They are small and quick and most of the teams that we've played this year have been small and quick. On the offensive end we are able to take advantage of that, but this will be the best defensive team we've played. It's going to be a tough challenge. We're going to throw a lot of bodies at Brockman. We're going to try DeAndre (Jordan) at first and then maybe give Junior (Elonu) a chance. Hopefully, on the other end we can get him in some foul trouble. I don't think they would be the same team without him."
ON GETTING THE BENCH SOME PLAYING TIME: "I saw a lot of smiles after the game on those kids' faces. Even if they didn't play well they were just happy to be out there and be part of it. Hopefully, it's going to carry over into practice. The thing I was most proud of was how our bench reacted when those young men were in there, the ones that bust their tales everyday. Our guys were up cheering and really encouraging those guys."
ON NATHAN WALKUP PLAYING MORE MINUTES: "I was proud of Nate. I know who my top four wings and guards are, but I'm still trying to find that fifth guy. Maybe that is going to be Nate. They're all so inconsistent; whether it's Beau (M), or Nate (Walkup), or B.J. (Holmes), or whoever I try. Nate can make shots which is something that we really need right now. He didn't play scared and he was aggressive. He has some limitations, but he knows what they are. He tries to play to his strength. We need somebody else to step up and help us a little bit. I played Junior with some top guys too and thought he did a really nice job. We're going to need (Junior) as the season goes on."
ON THE PLAYERS ANXIOUSNESS: "We met last night and you can sense it, especially with the young kids. The veterans know what they have to do to go win the game. They're excited about playing the Garden and playing in New York. I hope they're used to it. They played on national TV a lot last year. Hopefully, they'll just go out and play."
ON TAKING DAYS OFF: "As a coach, You always hate to give a day off because the day coming back is usually bad too. So, its almost like two days off. You base your days off on how you're performing. You have to take one off a week by rule, but you can stretch that into a thirteen day period if you do it the right way. There's a reason we scheduled the game we scheduled in between the NIT games. We would have liked a little bit better competition, but we couldn't get it."
ON DERRICK ROLAND: "Defensively, he has been phenomenal. I thought he changed the game the other night against UTEP when we put him on the point guard, because we had trouble containing that guy all night. As soon as we put Roland on him he made some turnovers. I thought that was the difference in the game. I think we learned a lot about our team that night. I've really been pleased with Derrick's defense and effort. He's still trying to figure out what's a good shot and what's a bad shot, but he's made some much needed jump shots for us. He is a guy that can shoot and has a lot of confidence in his shot. We need some more perimeter shooting."
ON PLAYING AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN: "I've played there a lot. I played in the preseason NIT when I was a junior. Coach (Larry) Brown loved New York so we were there almost every year."
ON THANKSGIVING SCHEDULE: "We're going to have Thanksgiving brunch. Then, we'll practice and have a Thanksgiving dinner that night. Then, we'll talk about what we're thankful for. There's not a lot of time. We'll take them to Tavern on the Green, which is one of the most famous restaurants in the world. We hope to get to Ground Zero and show them that. It's such an important part of our history. It's changed our lives."
ON A TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: "It's great for us. I know our players are excited. They want to play games like this. It's a big stretch for us. It's not the tell all. If we win all four games it doesn't mean we're the greatest team ever. If we don't do as well, is it the end of the year? No. There's still a lot of basketball left ahead of us. No matter how we do I won't make a big deal out of it. You prefer to be good and build some confidence. It's definitely not going to be an easy stretch for us, but I think our program is ready to take on a challenge like this."
ON THE TOURNAMENT BEING PREPARATION FOR BIG 12 PLAY: "I know Washington is picked down in their league, but I think they'll be near the top before it's over. They'll be an NCAA tournament team. Syracuse has two young kids that are really coming on. I think Ohio State is picked two or three in their league and they have great young players. It's just good competition for us."
"The guys I'm going to count on this week did a pretty good job. We were just subbing so much and never really got into a routine. That's why we scheduled that game. I wanted to make sure (Chris) Chapman, (Andrew) Darko, Marshall Carrell, and Shawn Schepel got in. That's very important to the development of our family.
"I want to get to the point where I don't have to coach a play every possession. I want the guys to play the game. We're ranked 15th in the country without a national point guard. That's scary to me, but those guys are getting better.
"We'll shorten the bench this week. I've given guys chances and they haven't been able to handle it. Junior (Elonu) is the one guy that has proven that he play out there with the top seven."
ON THE RECENTLY SIGNED RECRUITING CLASS: "We're really pleased. We went national. We had to have a point guard. (Dashan Harris) was the best point guard out there that wasn't committed when we got the job. Coach Spinelli did a phenomenal job with him. The family liked my personality, my character, and my values. That helped. Also, he has family in Houston. We're real excited about Dash. Dash is a great kid with great character. That guy can really push the ball. He's a tremendous leader and really knows how to run a team. He's an adequate shooter that has become a much better shooter. I expect him to be a guy that can knock down threes for us in the future. David LaBeau is a guy we've had our eye on for a couple of years. He is just coming into his own. He's young. He just turned eighteen. He's very long, athletic, and very skilled. We're really big, but we're not the most skilled team on the post. This guy will allow us, when we play smaller teams, to match up defensively. It's hard for our big guys to chase guys around. (David) (La)Beau is going to be able to do that. He can shoot the three. He can really handle it. He can pass. His work ethic is unbelievable. Both of these guys come from great high school programs with great coaches. They can both run the way I like to. They might be a little underrated coming out of high school."